Dr. Alison Kell has earned a NIAID K22 career transition award for her work on innate immune recognition of hantaviruses!

Old world hantaviruses are the major cause of hemorrhagic fevers in Asia, causing severe disease and mortality in humans worldwide, while in contrast, lifelong infection of the rodent reservoir host causes no apparent signs of disease. Our work at the University of Washington has identified innate immune signaling pathways, including the RIG-I-like receptor pathway, and gene networks that are associated with disease outcome in these divergent hosts.

In January 2020, Dr. Kell will join the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of New Mexico to expand her research studying the molecular mechanisms of host recognition and response to hantaviruses.